The promise/threat of more bike lanes on more Vancouver bridges sets off a frenzy

We all reported a few months ago that the city was looking at putting a bike/pedestrian route down the middle of the Granville Bridge, according to a sketch with no details attached in the city’s Transportation 2040 discussion doc.

This being a town that does not take these things lightly, there was a little storm of media coverage.

Then the city posted a request for contractors to bid on an engineering study to look at the feasibility of same on the Granville Bridge, along with improvements for cycling on Cambie. (Something barring cyclists from the bridge deck would be excellent, in my view!)

Another little typhoon: here, here and here. (Sam Cooper was first off the mark at the Province, as a certain source spread the news of the RFP here and there.)

From what I know, this is the beginning of quite a long process. The bid is for an engineering firm, not a design firm. Still, I was somewhat surprised to see it proceeding along so definitively, after I’d been told it was just an idea to get people thinking about alternatives in the Transportation 2040 process.

I know this audience takes little interest in such debates, but I thought I would post the information anyway.